When 17 attorneys submitted briefs explaining why they moved a class-action case out of Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III’s court and into Polk County Circuit Court, something was curiously missing.

Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III said Thursday that it might take up to four weeks before he issues a ruling involving possible sanctions against more than a dozen attorneys involved in a controversial class-action case.

Arvest Bank of Fayetteville has settled with 18 of 20 creditors who loaned money to one of its former executives, Dennis Smiley Jr. Only First State Bank of De Queen, where Smiley’s namesake father is chairman, and Signature Bank of Arkansas in Fayetteville remain as possible claimants seeking money from Smiley’s Arvest Bank Group stock purchase and stock option plans.